Bohls: S-E-C, S-E ... ah, never mind
LUBBOCK — The chant, predictable as always, started bubbling up from the student section on the east side of Jones AT&T Stadium almost from the moment Bijan Robinson laid the ball on the carpet on the first play of overtime Saturday.
“S-E-C, S-E-C,” the rabid student body taunted as Texas’ doom appeared imminent after the Red Raiders recovered the fumble.
The outcome was secure soon enough when Trey Wolff booted through a 20-yard field goal to lift Texas Tech to a 37-34 upset of the SEC-bound Longhorns, creating a sea of red and utter chaos on the field.
The Horns had company, all of it miserable.
Bohls: Up and down Texas has been here, done that — too many times
"I don't think that we played, obviously, like we have these first three weeks," Oklahoma’s Brent Venables said after his first loss as a head coach, 41-34 to Kansas State. "It starts with the man in the mirror, and it starts with us as coaches. Obviously, we did a poor job of getting our guys ready to play.
“Obviously, we didn't handle success very well. Sometimes it's just the other team. They just outplayed you, outcoached you. They obviously were the better team tonight. I thought they played more physical than us, played with better fundamentals; they played with better precision on both sides of the ball.”
Pretty strong candor.
Steve Sarkisian gave Tech and Joey McGuire big credit as well, but Longhorn Nation might be tired of him having to give opponents credit. The Texas coach has just three wins over Power Five teams with a dismal 3-8 record in his last 11 games.
Kansas State’s still got Oklahoma’s number, and the Wildcats knocked off the sixth-ranked Sooners in Norman, of all places. Of course, the Cats have beaten the Sooners five times now from 2012 through Saturday night.
"I just know that our kids believe that they're a good football team, and they have to go out there and prove it," Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said. "And tonight they proved it."
As a result, the two Big 12 franchise programs both fell. OU fell out of the Top 10 on my Associated Press Top 25 poll, and Texas tumbled all the way out with its second loss in four games.
What’s left of the Big 12 undoubtedly rejoiced because the Sooners and Longhorns draw no sympathy from any of the current eight teams that will be left behind when those two exit for the SEC, perhaps in 2024.
Report card:How the Texas Longhorns graded out in their 37-34 loss to Texas Tech
That includes unbeaten Kansas, the surprise team of the year, which got past Duke to go to 4-0 and enter my ballot at No. 25. Now Longhorn fans may be privately hoping they can beat the Jayhawks.
That wasn’t the only change. I put surging, unbeaten Florida State at No. 23.
Besides OU, which fell to No. 14 and one spot behind the Wildcats, seven other ranked teams went down, three of them to other Top 25 teams.
Arkansas lost to Texas A&M on a couple of freak plays, including a fumble return that changed the entire game and a late field-goal attempt by the Razorbacks that glanced off the right upright and bounced harmlessly into the end zone. The Aggies have now won two straight to climb in the rankings.
Florida gave Tennessee fits but couldn’t get the job done.
Wake Forest handed Clemson the scare of its life before the Tigers prevailed.
In addition, giant-killer Appalachian State lost to James Madison and, but for that zany Hail Mary play to beat Troy, would now be 1-3 with a win over the Aggies.
Miami, which has been overrated all year, succumbed to Middle Tennessee State.
At the top, the first four remained the same, although Georgia looked bored against Kent State and Michigan barely held off a really good Maryland team.
Kirk Bohls' ballot
Georgia
Ohio State
Alabama
Michigan
Clemson
USC
North Carolina State
Kentucky
Tennessee
Oklahoma State
Utah
Penn State
Kansas State
Oklahoma
Baylor
Pitt
Texas A&M
Arkansas
Oregon
Florida
Ole Miss
Wake Forest
Florida State
Washington
Kansas
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Longhorns drop out of AP Top 25 poll with loss to Texas Tech
